


I’ll Be There, When You’re Ready

by Hikkikoumori



Category: IDOLiSH7 (Video Game)
Genre: M/M, arcade dates, iotama is the only thing that matters in this godforesaken world, slight angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-10
Updated: 2019-01-10
Packaged: 2019-10-07 18:19:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17370944
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hikkikoumori/pseuds/Hikkikoumori
Summary: “Come on, Iorin. We’ve been together for a few months now, right~? You gotta start admitting when you wanna be romantic or I’ll just have to assume and that’s never good.”What Tamaki was saying was true, but Iori had no idea how to go about being “romantic”. It seemed every chance he tried to be romantic, it failed miserably. Just earlier he tried to be romantic and his perfection failed him.Why was it Iori could excel academically, athletically, and physically, but couldn’t be perfect when it came to his relationship?





	I’ll Be There, When You’re Ready

**Author's Note:**

> YO WHATS UP GAMERS BACK AT IT AGAIN WITH ANOTHER IOTAMA BECAUSE. i like to eat Sometimes. Plus it’s been a while, hasn’t it? I’m totally gonna write more iotama in the future just Not Soon because. As decent as my last ones were, they came out WAY too quickly and I feel like I could have expanded more on them if I had just sat down and not rushed myself and That’s Exactly What I’m Going To Do in the future! 
> 
> Enjoy, okay? I did my best.

Supposedly, Iori was perfect in every way. He flawlessly solved issues within their group, asking for nothing in return. On countless occasions he effortlessly passed exams with full marks. Yes, even athletically, Iori was gifted with an almost inhuman perfection. His profession was no exception to his grace, elegantly pulling off even the toughest of moves on the first try. Iori was blessed from the gods themselves, one would think. Except Tamaki.

 

“Iorin, it's more to the left. You’re gonna run out of time.”

“Hush, Yotsuba-san! You’ll interrupt my focus!” Iori snapped, his knuckles beginning to grow white as he gripped the joystick of the UFO Catcher he’d dumped 15,000 yen into.

As the claw descended, Iori prayed that it would finally pick up the plushie. This godforsaken King Pudding… Tamaki originally bounced up and down, begging for Iori to win it for him. It was fun to encourage him for the first few tokens, but now… Tamaki just wanted to go home.

_School would be better than this_ , the blue haired boy thought.

Once again, the claw dropped the pudding just short of the gift box. Iori gritted his teeth and dug into his pockets, “Yotsuba-san, go get me more coins.”

“What? No! You already spent like 20,000 yen on it!”

“Yes, and I have yet to retrieve the prize. Get me the coins.”

“No! I can ask Sou-chan to order it off the internet for me for cheaper than what you spent on it!”

Iori couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Of course Tamaki relied on Sougo. Up until he’d started dating Tamaki, Iori had basically ignored his presence entirely unless Tamaki forced him to pay attention to him.

“Iorin…?” Iori became visibly dejected, hanging his head slightly and relinquishing the controls to the UFO Catcher.

“You’re right, Yotsuba-san… This is silly. Let’s just go home.”

And now Tamaki was hit with a pang of heartache. “Y-Yeah… Hey, could you go buy me some King Pudding from the vending machine downstairs? I saw they had some when we passed by. I gotta pee, but I really want some. It would take time off our trip back home if you get me some now.”

“You’re always hungry if it’s pudding you’re eating.” Iori sighed and slung his school bag around his shoulder, “Fine, I’ll wait for you downstairs. Don’t get lost, okay?” Tamaki puffed his cheeks, pouting as Iori teased him. He’d only gotten lost _once_ and it was because it was the first time they’d visited this arcade.

Once Iori was gone from his sight, Tamaki fished through the pockets of his blazer. Only enough for one try… He just had to make it count!

Tamaki took a deep breath and popped the coins into the machine. He made quick work of the controls, shifting from the side of the machine and back to the front. He needed to get this before time ran out. He adjusted the claw and waited for it to stop shaking anything could sabotage this win. Time ticked down more and more. Three seconds went by quicker than Tamaki intended. The claw descend and Tamaki held his breath. Down, down, down… and then…

 

Iori sighed and looked at his phone. Had he really gotten himself lost after Iori told him specifically told him not to? Just as he thought this, Tamaki emerged holding his school bag over his shoulder. “There you are! I was just about to go in and look for you. Did you lose your way?”

“I’m not a baby, Iorin. I know my way out of places.” He pouted.

“I’m just checking. You know I worry about you especially.” Iori smiled up at his boyfriend, “Hm? Did you not have gloves this whole time?” He looked down to Tamaki’s bare hands. Japan’s winters weren’t _that_ harsh, but for an idol, it would be bad if Tamaki had gotten sick.

“Huh? Y-yeah, I forgot them at the studio a few weeks ago and when we went back again, I couldn’t find them.” He shrugged, “It’s okay. The dorms aren’t too far from here. It’s no big deal.” There was no deterring Iori, however. He slipped one of his gloves off and forced it onto Tamaki’s hand. A bit small, but it would do. Tamaki blinked, “Okay? Now what about the other hand?”

Iori looked as if he was just asked to recite every one of Riku’s solos. He _knew_ the answer… It didn’t mean he was going to embarrass himself by saying it out loud.

Instead, he turned away, offering his free hand to Tamaki.

Tamaki understood.

He took his boyfriend’s hand into his own and squeezed it tightly. Iori gasped at the sudden pressure and looked up at Tamaki. “You did this so our hands could be warm, right? You gotta keep em close so they make more heat with friction and… stuff. Right?”

Iori should have corrected him on his terrible memory of science class, but he refrained. That was for another time. For now, Tamaki was holding his hand and it felt like the cold air froze their skin together. Like it would physically cause both of them the worst pain imaginable if they were to separate. “Ahem. Yes,” Iori began, “This is suitable. To keep us warm.”

“Come on, Iorin. We’ve been together for a few months now, right~? You gotta start admitting when you wanna be romantic or I’ll just have to assume and that’s never good.”

What Tamaki was saying was true, but Iori had no idea how to go about being “romantic”. It seemed every chance he tried to be romantic, it failed miserably. Just earlier he tried to be romantic and his perfection failed him.

Why was it Iori could excel academically, athletically, and physically, but couldn’t be perfect when it came to his relationship?

He despised it. It seemed to come to Tamaki so naturally… Why was it? Should Iori study more? Of course, he wanted Tamaki to feel loved, so this would be essential for their relationship. “Tamaki.” Iori started, “I-I…”

The thoughts in his head swirled endlessly. Among the many things he wanted to say to be “romantic” were things that were just plain silly. Tamaki would tease him about it for sure. It wasn’t like he didn’t have experience, though his “experience” was artificial so it was debatable if it counted as anything reputable. Iori’s brain, for the first time in years, came to a full stop. Tamaki must have sensed this because he squeezed his boyfriends hand. The squeeze brought Iori back after the brief shut down, he looked to Tamaki as if nothing happened, though.

“Iorin, adults always say this on TV so don’t go setting any expectations for me after I say this, but — Love shouldn’t be stressful. It should come naturally. It should feel as if you got your head in the clouds for the first time, and you never wanna come down. So… I think you should just do whatever you want. Even when you scold me, I know it’s because you care about me. Everything you do for me is out of love, isn’t it?”

_“Everything you do for me is out of love, isn’t it?”_

_“Everything you do for me…”_

_“Out of love…”_

_“Everything.”_

Iori decided in that moment he was far from perfect. He believed his perfection before this realization was just a matter of opinion. People had never seen his displays of perfection before, so they assumed he was perfect in every way. However, they didn’t know Iori behind the scenes. Iori knew himself, though.

He also knew… He was only human. Fancy labels such as “perfect” and “idol” meant nothing. When you boiled down to it, Iori was human.

In that moment, he’d realized it. He realized his humanity as his body moved on impulse. He remembered that even he could do foolish things as he pulled Tamaki’s collar. He acknowledged that amongst everything in the world that seemingly meant the most to him didn’t matter as much as Tamaki. As they kissed, Tamaki scrambled to pull his hood up and to cover Iori’s face as best he could. When they parted, Tamaki looked as if Iori had just defused a bomb.

“Tamaki… I love you… I love you! I love you so much! So… so very, very much. I’m so thankful—!! I’m so thankful you exist!”

Tamaki wiped the tears from Iori’s cheeks and held his head to his own chest. He made no effort to stop Iori from crying. Even an idiot like him knew if Iori was crying, it was because his bottled up emotions had finally gotten loose. It was better to empty the bottle completely than to close it back up with remnants of what was once inside still there.

 

After they returned to the dorms, albeit late, they received an earful from Mitsuki. Iori’s perfect personality didn’t change despite his earlier revelation. After all, it wasn’t like his perfection wasn’t himself. It was a part of him, and when told to be himself, it was the only thing Iori knew how to do on impulse.

Once dinner was over and everyone was winding down, Iori found Tamaki sprawled out on his bed choosing to read manga over doing his homework. “Tamaki. I would like to discuss something.”

Tamaki sat up, saving his place in his book and patting the space next to him, “C’mon in~” He beckoned with a grin.

Iori sat down and searched for his words. Before he could have another meltdown, he took a deep breath. “I wanted to say thank you,” He began, “I know I’m prided on elegance and being flawless, but… I’m sorry to say that it’s all irrational assumptions. There is no way for a human to be completely free of fault. I am no exception. You helped me realize it, Tamaki. That there’s even things I don’t know how to do. For example; I have no idea how to be romantic. I don’t know how to… word my emotions properly either. And… Sometimes, I don’t even understand how to show affection. I’m sorry… Perhaps this relationship w—”

Before Iori could continue Tamaki burst into laughter. The timing was incredibly inappropriate and Iori felt as if he was a fool for even bringing this up. That was how he felt until Tamaki gave him a gentle, reassuring kiss.

“You think I didn’t know that? It’s what I love about you, Iorin. When I say I love Iorin, I mean eeeeverything about you, even the embarrassing stuff. Sometimes I just wanna pick you up and carry you away so I can have you all to myself… But we have reputations to keep, don't we? I can understand not “getting” romance. I’ve never been in love, either, but an idiot like me can tell when I am and boy… I’m really in deep.” He sighed, leaning over his bed and grabbing something out of his school bag. Iori’s eyes widened when he realized he’d recognized this toy.

“I love Iorin. No matter what, even if you’re no longer yourself, as long as you stay beside me, I’ll always love you, Iori.”

Tamaki placed the King Pudding plush in Iori’s lap. Iori had acquired an accumulation of King Pudding merch since dating Tamaki, but it didn’t mean he didn’t treasure the gifts. They were much easier to explain than Usamimi Friends merch, much to Iori’s relief.

Iori looked down at the stuffed pudding that stared back at him, “How?” He asked. Hadn’t Tamaki pushed Iori away from the machine?

“When I said I was going to the bathroom and made you wait outside, I tried playing the machine. I didn’t win, though… It was really close to the prize box, so I reached into the little door thing and yanked it out.”

“Tamaki—!! Th-Thats… Thats not legal, is it?”

“Don’t care. I didn’t get caught, and I’d do it again if it was for you.”

Iori blushed and hid his face in the pudding’s soft outer skin(?), “But… You wanted it. Why are you giving it to me?”

“Well, I was gonna give it to you anyway since you dropped like 50,000 yen on it… But… You had some sort of self-realization today, yeah? It’s all because of this pudding, so keep it. You’ll remember today because of it.”

“I… Certainly won’t forget this bizarre day. Thank you, Tamaki. I love you.”

“I love you too, Iorin.”

**Author's Note:**

> follow me on twitter for more out of character iori and izumi bros lovemail @izumiiorin


End file.
